Window shopping - Support CCK and get cool gifts...

Our Covent Garden store originally brought you a range of unique, hand-picked goodies (many of them exclusive to us). We have continued our friendly personal approach and dedication to service in our online shop. We rely on it in order to continue our work, and every order is important to us. By shopping with us you not only get great products, some of which are exclusive to CCK, but you also support exchange of thought and creativity, contribute to the growth of open-minded and aware adult community and promote tolerance towards all adults and all sexualities.

2016

Sexuality & Spirituality Conference

The first global Sexuality & Spirituality Conference took place at Oxford in July 2016, and we were there! The conference aimed to create a space for inter-disciplinary explorations of the commonalities of sexuality and spirituality.

Deborah Fields For KFS TV

Coffee, Cake & Kink, Coffee Cake & Kisses and KFS TV teamed up for a kink education event with the therapist Deborah Fields. In a question-and-answer session Deborah Fields entertained a packed room with sensible, sensitive and often funny advice on kink and sexuality issues while being filmed for a new KFS TV channel.

2012

CCK Internship Program

Building on the success of the Future Jobs Fund (2010/11), our CCK internship programme launches, attracting over 350 applicants. We test drive it with five interns and are soon commended on the "platinum standard" of the programme. Our interns work as they choose, when they choose, and on whatever they choose, while also benefiting from a solid structure and supervision throughout. We ensure that 20% of internship time is spent directly on the interns' personal development, and we match it in mentoring time. With it all working out as well as it does, we continue to offer a small number of focused high-impact/full-involvement placements, advertised through our Opportunities section, as well as on the main graduate websites.

2011

CCK Office Parties

Throughout 2011We decide we are going to go mad without hanging out with our community, customers and ex-staff. Through Twitter, Facebook and our newsletter, we invite them all to a series of events at our office, to catch up and recharge. Coffee and cake are had by all, with a fair bit of kink to boot.

Polyday

27 AugustEver since the closure of the Covent Garden store back in 2008, we have stayed in touch with our community by means of newsletters and CCK Socials. People have also been able to visit us at our WC1 office, and they frequently pop over for a chat over coffee, or to pick up some goodies from our web shop. As Polyday approaches, we decide we miss hanging out, and make a public appearance, as well as serving coffee and cake to Polyday visitors, and treating the event team and volunteers to refreshments on us.

2010

Future Jobs Fund

From MayWe are approved for participation in the Future Jobs Fund, a government-backed initiative to get the long-term unemployed back into work. Social Enterprise London, who broker the opportunity, are asked to "explain/defend (their) decision to include CCK in the SEL pool of Future Jobs Fund opportunities on the back of some concerns raised by JCP/DWP" on the adult nature of our work. It takes our combined forces the best part of July 2010 to push things through and list our positions in the nationwide government jobs database. We celebrate as diversity wins and the word "kink" raises eyebrows in job centres across the country (only a couple of years earlier, Ann Summers fought all the way to the High Court to achieve just that). We rent a second office and go on to provide paid six-month contracts to 20 alternative, "unemployable" people, nearly 50% of them with various levels of disability - and hopefully come one step closer to washing the stigma out of "kink"!

Number of employees:20 (+ 3 trial ones)

Duration: May 2010 -June 2011

Description:Provision of 6-month work placements for the long-time unemployed, and on-the-job mentoring and training (with particular emphasis on "unemployable"/alternative job-seekers).

Recruitment:Although all CCK positions were accessible through the Job Centre and listed on the national database, due to the nature of the organisation, and an experimental nature of the placements, we wereasked to take a principal responsibility for the recruitment of suitable candidates, and fill the positions through our own channels (i.e.accessing directly alternative communities). Over 200 applied.

Successful candidates were asked about their recruitmentexperience,on both Coffee, Cake & Kink's and JCP'sside (see below).

DWP goals:To increase individuals'confidence and work readiness.

For the people recruitedto either continue in employment, or find a new one within 3 months of completingtheir Future Jobs Fund placement.

CCK goals:To develop the management and the organisation, in particular backend systems and procedures. To further our mission of making "kink" more acceptable by demonstrating how "alternative" organisations may work alongside mainstream ones, participate in the society and deliver measurable social benefits (challenging stereotypes and bridge-building).

Goal monitoring was conducted by means of an anonymous online survey, completed at exit by the majority of departing FJF staff.The survey measured:a perceived difference that the FJF placement has made to FJF employees'Confidence,Professional Skills, People Skills, Time Management, Responsibility /Ownership, Project Management, Multi-Tasking, Team Work, Motivation, Preparedness For Work, Life Skills and Personal Happiness, which were rated by staff in terms of making no difference, improvement or decline.

Coffee, Cake & Kink succeeded in meeting the FJF goals, namely demonstrating an increase in the FJF team's confidence and work readiness ("Professional Skills" was the area of the biggestimpact among those who responded, with 90% of individuals claiming "some" or "considerable" improvement. This was followed by "Confidence", rated as "somewhat" or "considerably" higher by 75% of the team and "Time Management", which improved for 70% of the team ). Combined with individual CV reviews and mentoring, this translated into several of the FJF team finding new, exciting employment immediately after the end of their placements with us, and more in the following months.

Please see below for details and personal feedback from the team.

2009

CCK pronounced "symbolic"

SeptemberThe Skin Two Year Book, the "Bible" of the kinky world, rounds up the story of CCK to date and our "symbolic value, which is significant beyond the establishment itself". It proceeds to explore the concept of collective identity, CCK's function as "a community centre", and "a very special social space that connected cutting-edge erotic culture with day-to-day functionality and community 'outreach' activities where people made important discoveries about themselves and life. CCK was a "world that was embracing and went beyond mere 'tolerance', to acceptance. A world that was life-affirming and expansive and, to some, transformative".

Busman's Holiday

February-MarchWe travel North America, at long last putting faces to names and visiting our long-term suppliers and partners. We have a lovely time in Canada, appreciating the "Wet Spots" and kinky Toronto. We have fun in New York, and are inspired enought to write our own CCK NY Guide. In San Francisco, we are offered new premises for CCK on the evening of our arrival (we politely decline, figuring London needs us more). Verve coffee roasters in Santa Cruz give us a roastery tour and our first demo of syphon coffee-making (two years before it arrives in London). Travelling around California, we visit Cleis Press in SF, spend a lovely afternoon with Olivia, an iconic pin-up artist, watching a naughty version of the Cadbury bunny emerge under her paintbrush in her Malibu studio. (It is later deemed "too saucy" to be used as a new chocolate icon.) JP Stockroom in LA knock us off our feet with their hospitality, and a 2am factory tour where we learn all about their toys and leather goods (and have an unforgettable Saturday night!).

CCK Socials

6 FebruaryMaxine, aka Chaos Bunny, starts CCK Socials, monthly meetings at various London coffee venues for CCK customers to hang out - good fun, and a way to keep in touch with all the friends made over the years at Coffee, Cake & Kink. These continue throughout 2010 and 2011, until the Bunny takes a well-earned break (and CCK Socials just wouldn't be the same without her!).

2008

CCK Covent Garden closes

2 NovemberHaving completed five years of trading, our first Covent Garden store closes. Clearing out the basment amuses everyone, with several boxes of samples that never made it to the shop floor finally seeing the light of day. We have no fewer than three closing parties - which are a blast - for our customers, and continue doing business via the online shop.

Rape Charity Support

19 September 2008The Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (Dundee) contact us via our online shop for advice on sex-positive books suitable for rape and abuse survivors. We furnish them with copies of "Healing Sex" and "The Survivor's Guide To Sex", but it is the conversations that we remember most. The subject is dear to our hearts, with consent - or lack thereof - critical to both the nature, and outcomes of any "rough sex". It is great to be discussing the subject with someone dealing with the other, non-consensual, side, and better still to be working together and arriving at the same conclusions. We are, in fact, all on the same page, and CCK are honoured to be of help. We welcome any future collaborations in this area.

CCK at Chicago's Leather Archives & Museum

12 JuneCCK's oral history is recorded for inclusion in the Chicago-based Leather Archives & Museum, which is devoted to the recording and preservation of leather and related alternative lifestyles.

Criminal Justice & Immigration Bill

8 May 2008The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 receives Royal Assent, passing into law. This criminalises the possession of "extreme" images, even if the activity they depict is legal. Reaction is required. Multiple, if somewhat subdued, protests take place, including the symbolic burning of soon-to-be-outlawed literature in front of the British Library. We are heartbroken to be selling books bound for "the stake", and spend ages leafing through them as we bid each goodbye. We call publishers of some of the titles to discuss matters, and train our staff. To further spread the word, we put on the "Extreme Porn" exhibition of Geoff The Fetishman's comic art, which humorously summarises our views on this serious matter. Nevertheless, from the beginning of 2009 it is illegal to possess any image featuring "serious injury to the breasts or the genitalia", regardless of participants or consent given.

Business Link Case Study

Business Link commends CCK for exceptional performance and "consistently outperforming 'an average UK SME' in almost every area". Chosen as their case study, we are pronounced "an interesting and unique business and, above all, well run [...] a remarkable number of strengths to be proud of". A guest speaker invitation to the Retail Business Show (Feb 2008, London Olympia) follows, to co-present with Jacqueline Gold as the "next big thing". As it happens, neither Ann Summers nor CCK can attend.

2007

Thumbs Up From The Mayor

1 OctoberIn a three-hour meeting with Ken Livingstone's diversity advisor, we debate the merits of recognising kinky and sex-positive businesses as social/community enterprises. We go through a screening process with the expert responsible for all social enterprises in London at the time. Four hours at the City Hall later, it becomes apparent that we do indeed tick all the boxes. Eureka! Finally, we have a name for something we've been doing for since the day we opened our doors back in 2003! With official recognition, opportunities arrive. Tamara, as good as her word, puts the weight of the Mayor's Office behind us. Coffee, Cake & Kink is subsequently featured in the Mayor's newsletter for London, and endorsed in its social enterprise efforts. Resulting collaborations lead to our eventual involvement with DWP/JCP and Future Jobs Fund.

Online shop launches

JulyWe assemble a collection of unique goods, many exclusive to us, in a new online shop aiming to provide a bridge between premises, and continuity to CCK while we are off the high street. We have not stopped trading for one day since opening the doors in 2003. All through to 2012, customers will visit us in our Gray's Inn office, popping in to collect their goods, say hi, and have some coffee and cake while they are at it.

BBC Radio 4 Discussion

MaySonia, CCK's director, and Bob Cotton, CEO of the British Hospitality Association, discuss small business EU proposals and what they mean for UK SMEs on Liz Barclay's "You And Yours" consumer affairs programme. It's the first time we are asked to participate in a business forum discussion without the K-word clouding the issues.

LDA / Business Link Diversity Debate

AprilPatrick Elliott, CEO of Business Link, joins us in the CCK Lounge for coffee to discuss sexual and gender diversity issues and how small, high-impact changes - such as the "transgender" option introduced on Business Link's nationwide entrepreneur profiles - may further the causes of inclusion and diversity. We have similar conversations with LDA and various local government agencies.

2006

Sex, Live & Living Conference

7 OctoberA conference devoted to the discussion of stroke sufferers' sex lives and relationship prospects. It's the first of many events which we go on to support over the years by providing subsistence and taking care of the good people both organising and attending. As it happens, the Skin Two Expo - which we always try to attend - coincides with the event. This year, we choose a charity appearance for Different Strokes.

Ulli Richter Exhibition

JanuaryWhere does an "unexhibitable" artist go to exhibit their work? CCK! Ulli Richter's art treads a fine line between the subversive and the barely legal. A Berlin-based photographer, noted for both his artistic and "leather" photography, Ulli is known for capturing real people, in real "play", and in uncompromising, controversial contexts. The resulting photography, while excellent, is not for the faint-hearted. Consequently, it cannot be easily shown to the public and would not be accepted by any gallery or, indeed, any other space (whether mainstream, alternative, or LGBT). True to our mission of pushing boundaries, we decide to stick our necks out and spend eight long hours shortlisting images that would challenge without getting us shut down. The result is a notable gay SM exhibition, the first in two decades in London (and indeed UK). In due course we are visited by both the police and the council... and they end up staying for coffee. The exhibition is a great success, and it runs its course uninterrupted and without incident.

"Spiritual Space" Christian evenings

January"Spiritual Space", a monthly meeting for Christians of all denominations, starts at Coffee, Cake & Kink. Led by Father Alex (Church of England), the group focuses on discussion and exploration of spirituality and particularly, though not only, the Christian faith, in relation to alternative lifestyles. In the course of the first evening, Alex binds an old, leather-bound copy of the Bible with bondage rope, and encourages participants to slide into it cards describing their personal faith issues; it is never to be unbound, with all individual prayers to be given to God. The Bible lives at CCK for a number of years, and is accessible to all asking for it. Combining discussion and prayer, "Spiritual Space" is an exceptionally rare project aimed at helping people become whole, and work out the clashes between their spirituality and sexuality while being fully supportive of both. The little-known event raises numerous eyebrows, while attracting a wide range of people, who sometimes travel considerable distances to attend. For many, it is of enormous support and transformational power, and has continued at various venues since 2005.

100% Team Training

A notable HR moment arrives as all CCK staff receive additional training and upgrade their CVs at the same time. Courses taken range from NVQs in Customer Service to Conflict Handling to management. We also put Emily on an Everywoman's Leadership Course (Personal and Business Mastery). She has fun and is the youngest power woman there. "They were all lovely, although it was a little intimidating at first," Emily says.

2005

Legal Eagle

12 DecemberWe are bemused by thelawyer.com reporting how "the recent launch of media and entertainment boutique Swan Turton was notable for several reasons, not least because of senior partner Julian Turton's welcome speech during which he admitted that his partners could be found in the local coffee shop, Coffee Cake & Kink, recharging batteries for the afternoon".Read more...

CCK & The Barbican: Nobuyoshi Araki evening

6 OctoberOur first collaboration with a major arts institution, to complement the Araki: Self. Life. Death exhibition, featuring the works of Nobuyoshi Araki, arguably Japan's greatest living photographer (and certainly its most controversial). We organise and host a Japanese evening, complete with Japanese cakes, geishas and bondage by Nawashi Murakawa. Tomoko Sato, the curator of Araki's first UK exhibition, gives a talk at CCK... and is delighted to witness real-life Shibari for the first time (something she didn't have a chance to experience, despite a lifelong collaboration with the artist and decking the Barbican out in his erotic rope work photography)!

Kinkfest

28-29 JulyKinkfest, a non-profit event from Unfettered which aims to further the causes of kink and alternative lifestyles, is the first community event where we provide quiet, behind-the-scenes support, keeping their volunteers going with free coffee and cake. This continues the following year, where so they can do their bit with gusto (this work continues to date, so feel free to get in touch!).

Marina O'Loughlin's Review

2004

Start Of Academic Collaborations

5 NovemberWe strike up our first academic collaboration when Julie Wright, a Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Advertising at The Buckinghamshire New University, sets her students a CCK-based assignment. In a project brief (course module GD302A), she asks the students to come up with an advertising campaign and branding for Coffee, Cake & Kink, with the final works judged by us. We spend a fun afternoon with the students, all well-fuelled with coffee and cake on the house. Julie's advertising course goes on to be among the top three in the country, with students scooping a clutch of prestigious top industry awards. For Coffee, Cake & Kink it's the beginning of a series of academic collaborations, from London College of Fashion students designing uniforms for us to Florida State University featuring CCK in their student handbooks as a cool London hangout.

CCK pronounced a "trend-setter"

OctoberThe Future Laboratory, a global trends consultancy, identifies Coffee, Cake & Kink as a trend-setter, and a pioneer of things to come. Surely enough, the rise of the CCK-style "fusion cafe" follows from 2006 onwards, with the trend in "fourth wave" destination cafes coming from 2011 onwards. Likewise, the cafetiere-style, single-origin coffee, which we raised eyebrows with in 2004, is fast becoming the way to enjoy coffee (we have lost count of how many times we have refused to serve espresso-based drinks - as it turns out, rightly so)! Ahead of the pack since 2003, we are regularly consulted on coffee industry matters and surveys big and small (including Allegra Strategies industry reports)...

London Fetish Map in the Wellcome Collection

OctoberThe "London Fetish Map" (started by the Coffee, Cake & Kink team when working as www.whatsyours.com) is included in the Wellcome Trust's print history archives. In a meeting at CCK, we discuss the history and background of the publication, as well as providing additional copies of the 2002 and 2003 map for the archive (General Collections; Ephemera; Box 583). Our "London Fetish Map" was also shortlisted for the Publication of the Year Erotic Award 2003 (we declined due to a conflict of interest as we had already offered assistance with this Outsiders Trust charity event).

Emily joins CCK

31 July Emily joins us as our very first employee. She came on her own as a customer the first couple of times, to enjoy the ambience and do her BA work, and brought Mum for coffee on her 18th birthday. Seeing the "Staff Wanted" note in the window, she came up to say she was interested and that "Mum approves"... who could resist that? She will stay with us for the full run of the first store, and all its ups and downs, and be the last to go when we close the door in 2008. We never lose touch, and catch up regularly (see her adventures "after CCK")

"Innovation of the Year" Erotic Award

29 AprilCoffee, Cake & Kink receives the Innovation of the Year Erotic Award. Founded in 1994, the Erotic Awards are run by the Outsiders Trust, a charity that helps disabled people to find partners. They honour the most talented, influential and sex-positive artists, writers, politicians, academics and pioneers, nominated by the public and judged by the Grand Jury. In a ceremony at Night of The Senses, we pick up our Golden Flying Penis Trophy, which joins the first one already in our office (for the previous, non-CCK achievements of the very same team).